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Underground > Radio & Music >

Standalone Tracks

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

12:02 / 21.09.06

As the summary says, I subscribe to emusic, which gives me 40 song downloads per month. I prefer to do things by album, because I find the flow of an album is usually closest to artist intent in terms of the work they do, but I often find myself with five or so "spares" at the end of the month.

Right now, I've been sort of picking away at Smithsonian Folkways compilations month after month, but I'm wondering if anyone knows of any great single-track recordings... classical and jazz spring to mind as probable genres... that I could snag.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

12:16 / 21.09.06

Ooh, good idea- it bugs the shit out of me when that happens. EVERY MONTH.

I usually try to find long pieces- Nurse With Wound are pretty good for getting your album's worth. I generally find that if I just download the one "normal-length" song, it irritates me because I want to hear the rest.

13:07 / 21.09.06

Styrofoam Plates by Deathcab for Cutie.

The song is about the lead singer/character's useless father who drank too much and forced the family to rely on charity, through the medium of styrofoam plates.

There are two parts to the song, bridged by a wicked crescendo of drums and haunting guitars.

Really, it's Deathcab's best song because it feels so real.

Kiltartan Cross

14:06 / 21.09.06

Any version of Mussorgsky's Night on Bare Mountain. Should be about ten minutes worth of classical cool.

Call of Ktulu by Metallica. They can't spell, but they can rock.

Ommadawn or Amarok by Mike Oldfield. Ommadawn might be down as two parts, Amarok (which is an unofficial sequel) should probably be in as one. These two are, in my humble opinion, his best albums by far. Amarok finishes with an impersonation of Maggie Thatcher over the top of a Swahili chorus; what's not to love?

Gordon Lightfoot's Canadian Railroad Trilogy. Dunno, I just kinda like it.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

15:59 / 21.09.06

Actually, having said NWW, I should probably point you in the direction of Salt Marie Celeste, which is on eMusic. It's album-length, and is a more complex treatment of their earlier Salt (Music For The Horse Hospital), which is imho far superior.

the permuted man

16:57 / 21.09.06

I just buy boosters to make up the difference since boosters carry over from one month to the next (and your regular tracks are used first).

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

17:23 / 21.09.06

The cost-per-track ratio on boosters is way out of whack with the cost-per-track of subscriptions, though... so much so that I feel bad buying boosters. I know that's crazy, but it's how it breaks down in my head.

the permuted man

23:01 / 21.09.06

Yeah, it's slightly higher. I buy the 50 song ones for $14.99. It's still really cheap compared to buying CDs in stores or via iTunes, but I understand it's too expensive for some people. Personally, I still buy a lot of CDs in the store, so I could max out on boosters and still save money.

08:19 / 22.09.06

MF Doom's Live From Planet X is on emusic as a standalone track and well worth the bother if you don't already have it. Pretty much a live greatest hits - Madvillainy, Operation Doomsday, Viktor Vaughn...all in the mix. They are good to us they are.

lord nuneaton savage

09:32 / 22.09.06

Chairmen of the Boards superb "Life and Death" suite. 10 minutes of Sly Stone penned psychedelic funk odyssey. Fuzz bass, pretentious lyrics, moog and mellotron freakouts, enormous percussion breakdowns and, to top it all, danceable as sweeeeet fuck.

Standalone as anyt'ing...

Our Lady Has Left the Building

17:17 / 25.09.06

Pulp's Last Day of the Miners Strike is so joyful and funny about some pretty grim times, though it might translate out of the UK.

12:22 / 01.10.06

How about some Northern Soul classics for one-off stand alone tracks- the original and best version of Tainted Love by Gloria Jones is a great place to start - i've ranted about it before- but it really is a great track- familiar yet (IMHO) a million times better than the soft cell version- like a more glam rock stomp version of Baby Love- a cooler older sister to the likes of the supremes or the Ronettes- surely a contender for an essential one off track.

The Timaximus, The!

18:06 / 01.10.06

The Decemberist's The Tain EP is a single eighteen-minute track that I quite enjoyed.

Earthless do really long stoner-rock jams. There are two twentyish-minute tracks on the studio record, and there are a few eMusic Live shows that get closer to the fifty-minute mark.

The b-sides from Sleater-Kinney's "Get Up" single are nice. Cadallaca has a decent four-song EP, but "The Trouble With Public Places" is one of my favorite SK-related songs ever.

Nouvelle Vague has a bunch of covers I'd prefer to pick and choose from.

I like to get tracks by artists I like on compilations I wouldn't touch otherwise. I found The Blood Brothers on a Queen tribute, Weller+McCartney on somthing, Fiery Furnaces on a Beatles tribute, Hot Snakes on some video game thing, &c.

This is a really cool thread idea. Does it have to be single tracks, or should there be a separate eMusic recommendations thread? As far as albums go, Tinariwen, Helium's The Magic City, and The Chuck Dukowski Sextet have been rocking my ipod lately.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

08:16 / 02.10.06

A separate eMusic thread might be a good idea. Some of these suggestions are great, but aren't available (at least in North America) and make me cry a little inside.

My downloads refresh in 13 days and I'm CHAMPING AT THE BIT.

On the subject: Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus has a couple of 12+ minute tracks that look really good for the next go-round.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

08:37 / 18.10.06

Today I discovered Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, and this album (Who Is This America?) has a number of MIGHTY 10+ minute standalone tracks that are total epics all by their lonesome.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

13:42 / 18.10.06

Just used up my last 4 on Sunn0)))'s The Grimm Robe Demos... four tracks, 72 minutes. Bargain.

15:58 / 18.10.06

it's pretty arbitrary which song'll come to mind when i'm asked this kind of question, but this time you got two.

somebody's watching me by rockwell or oh yeah by yello.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

17:30 / 14.05.07

Boris' ABSOLUTEGO is one hour and five minutes of noise/drone/thunder/awesomeness, as one high-value emusic track. Fantastico!

uncle retrospective

20:40 / 14.05.07

LCD Soundsystem's 45:33. One long track of electro funkiness with a nice chill out bit at the end.
Hip shaking goodness.

Closed for Business Time

22:36 / 14.05.07

Ricardo Villalobos - Fizheuer zieheuer. One long minimal techno track that can teach you everything there is to know about knob-fiddling. Not that kind....

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

14:28 / 12.06.07

Neither of the above are available on eMusic, or at least I can't find them (but eMusic might have filtering by country to avoid rights conflicts... no idea).

Tara's Room by Pauline Oliveros is two tracks totalling over 44 minutes; sparse and haunting and intriguing stuff. The on-page review gives a really good summary of what to expect. I find "The Beauty of Sorrow" evocative of "Tattooed Man" by Coil (the accordian, natch) and "Tara's Room" is just... captivating, like "soundtrack for a bad dream in a Kurosawa movie" captivating.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

15:23 / 12.06.07

Sounds good... just downloading that now, Matt!

I also just downloaded the Khanate album- five tracks, all pretty long. 'Tis Greg Anderson of Sunn0)))'s old doom metal band, and the samples I've heard are downright terrifying. So not quite standalone tracks, but there's twenty minutes you can get in one go.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

19:26 / 13.06.07

Downloading Khanate. The eMusic user reviews are very full of praise, and also a little bit "WWE Extreeeem!" in their enthusiasm ("You may not return SANE!") so I'm looking forward to the experience.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

18:06 / 18.06.07

I'm digging the hell out of Khanate, especially "Under Rotting Sky."

One download left this month. What shall it be, Barbelith?

18:14 / 18.06.07

I think it should be Dinosaur Egg by Scout Niblett. If you don't already have it then you owe it to yourself. It's a deeply creepy party thrown by a supervillain... ish.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

18:19 / 18.06.07

I downloaded it already! Based on grant's recommendation in the "Songs of the Moment" thread, IIRC. It's wonderful!

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

18:34 / 18.06.07

And another Sun O))) track wins the day.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

22:23 / 18.06.07

And another Sun O))) track wins the day.

Heh. Guess who I just got back from seeing?

13:04 / 19.06.07

eMusic offers the complete audio track to Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space as a single download, which is great if you're into that sort of thing.

I tend to pick away at compilations and soundtracks a lot for my last couple downloads.

15:15 / 19.06.07

I haven't used emusic in a while but when i did i got some pretty good Lenny Bruce stuff. Mostly whole cds as one track. Worth a shot if you've got a couple spare at the end of the month.

Gendudehashadenough

00:41 / 27.06.07

SONG: The General
ARTIST: Dispatch

One of the greatest songs on Earth, though I've been told, and not heard for myself, that the album is kind of flat. Great beat, lyrics (slightly of the MC variety) and build that makes you want twirl around like a half costumed beatle on four lids of Mr. Clean.

00:57 / 27.06.07

Lotion by the Greenskeepers.

Not only is it about Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs, but it's the catchiest motherfucking song you'll hear in a long time. The rest of the band's oeuvre is nowhere near as interesting or listen-able.

The song's chorus just fits so perfectly with the clapping hands and the driving guitar riff.

Man, I need to listen to it right now.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

15:46 / 23.07.07

Two downloads netting 55 minutes of stellar avant-garde jazz.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

20:30 / 16.08.07

eMusic have just added two new Khanate tracks, clocking in at about 20 minutes each... Capture and Release. Listening to Capture right now, and it's, well...

...it's what you need. Imagine if Swans played doom metal. The Khanate...Sunn0))) link is SO apparent on this. Scary shit.